Summer CEmpre
It was in Monsanto that the unexpected happened. 41 young people from all over Portugal were selected to participate in a summer seminar "Summer CEmp" from the European Commission representation in Portugal, in the historical village of Portugal from the 29 August until the 1 September to speak about the future of Europe.
For this event high level speakers representing different sectors, such as the Portuguese Commissioner Carlos Moedas, MEPs Marisa Matias and Jose Manuel Fernandes, fado singer Katia Guerreiro and judoka Nuno Delgado and many others, were invited.
The most interesting aspect for me was that even though everybody was Portuguese, the participants demonstrated a clear connection with both their national identity and the European one. The environment was great, since it had formal moments where debates took place and informal ones, where distance between young people, politicians and other high level speakers seemed to diminish, creating the feeling of humanity rather than statuses between people in a society. I also felt that even though the participants were coming from diverse backgrounds and regions, there was a clear unity in the group, which leads me to believe that a Union based upon diversity is indeed possible. Rather than just to remain with my opinion about what the Summer CEmp was, I decided to ask some of the other participants about 'what was the summer CEmp' for them.
Luis Saraiva stated that the best part of the Summer CEmp was not only the opportunity to meet ambassadors and journalists, which were his main topics of interest, but also to be in Monsanto, a beautiful and cosy place, where he had the opportunity to exchange experiences and opinions with other people.
Similarly, Ines Bicho said that what she enjoyed the most was the fact that for four days, 41 amazing young people debated with interest and enthusiasm about the future of Europe. She also added that the hope is in these young people and that she is happy to know that the future of Europe is in their hands.
For Claudia Silva something unexpected happened, she felt that for the first time she was able to be understood and be herself, something that people told her she would live when she would go to university but that never actually happened. She also added " I will never forget that feeling. We were all so excited to know more about each other, to listen and learn. The experience became more than just learning about the EU. It was about creating real connections and that is the first step to be an European citizen."
Ricardo Silva concluded that he discovered that Europe is more than just what is studied by the academia and more than just policy-makers. He was happy to see that the chosen participants demonstrated both ambition and competences and that this one day will lead to the very much wished prosperity of Europe.
If we had to rate the Summer CEmp it was definitely a 5-star initiative. So a big thanks to the organisers and we all look forward to see a second edition of the Summer CEmp next year.